MAKE THE NBA/WNBA ORDINAL
The Issue
NBA/WNBA FANS GATHER
The Situation:
I recently took a statistics assessment where it came to my attention that college and professionals' basketball players jerseys are not numbered in order (i.e. 1, 2, 3 4, 5, and so on) and are therefore not ordinal. I played youth basketball as a child, and we were numbered ordinally (1-20). Therefore, when tested on this, I selected ordinal as I am more interested in the arts and had no idea that higher level teams apparently are heathens who do not number themselves in order. The system makes no sense, and I am suffering because of it.
Description of Current Numbering Process:
The WNBA and NBA allow their players to select any number (0-99) granted that it hasn't already been selected, it isn't the number 69, and if it's a retired # it gets approval from the previous player. This is chosen per team so there are repeats within the 450+ players across the league.
A big thanks to the site Big Hoopers to explaining this information to me (What Are The NBA Jersey Number Rules? (With Amazing Facts!) - Realhoopers)
What Am I Signing? :
What you are currently signing is to redo the scattered, atrocious process for numbering in place. I propose the WNBA and NBA number their system ordinally by team. Here's how that will work:
- Each of the 14 teams selecting numbers will attend a lottery where their team's name will be randomly drawn from a hat or a bucket of sorts.
- Then the team will get to pick from a selection of numbers. For example, maybe the Chicago Sky WNBA team drew first, and they want numbers 1 through 15. Then maybe the next team wants 16 through 30. It goes on like this in a numbered ordinal system.
The number 69 is apparently banned from the leagues due to its sexual connotation, which messes with the ordering, and for this I propose the adults in charge grow up. If I've seen children with that number as well as 67, and they can handle it then so can grown-ups. People get that as math problem answers all the time and it's literally not a big deal. No one is thinking about it that hard unless they're a real weirdo. It is incredibly disturbing that they believe they couldn't have 69 in play and it speaks volumes about the maturity of those running the league.
Retired players can also suck it up, they don't play anymore and they don't own numbers.
Vocabulary to know:
Nominal: Something that is not ordered (ex: colors)
Ordinal: Something that can be ordered (ex: ages)
NBA: The WNBA but all dudes
WNBA: The NBA but all women
10
The Issue
NBA/WNBA FANS GATHER
The Situation:
I recently took a statistics assessment where it came to my attention that college and professionals' basketball players jerseys are not numbered in order (i.e. 1, 2, 3 4, 5, and so on) and are therefore not ordinal. I played youth basketball as a child, and we were numbered ordinally (1-20). Therefore, when tested on this, I selected ordinal as I am more interested in the arts and had no idea that higher level teams apparently are heathens who do not number themselves in order. The system makes no sense, and I am suffering because of it.
Description of Current Numbering Process:
The WNBA and NBA allow their players to select any number (0-99) granted that it hasn't already been selected, it isn't the number 69, and if it's a retired # it gets approval from the previous player. This is chosen per team so there are repeats within the 450+ players across the league.
A big thanks to the site Big Hoopers to explaining this information to me (What Are The NBA Jersey Number Rules? (With Amazing Facts!) - Realhoopers)
What Am I Signing? :
What you are currently signing is to redo the scattered, atrocious process for numbering in place. I propose the WNBA and NBA number their system ordinally by team. Here's how that will work:
- Each of the 14 teams selecting numbers will attend a lottery where their team's name will be randomly drawn from a hat or a bucket of sorts.
- Then the team will get to pick from a selection of numbers. For example, maybe the Chicago Sky WNBA team drew first, and they want numbers 1 through 15. Then maybe the next team wants 16 through 30. It goes on like this in a numbered ordinal system.
The number 69 is apparently banned from the leagues due to its sexual connotation, which messes with the ordering, and for this I propose the adults in charge grow up. If I've seen children with that number as well as 67, and they can handle it then so can grown-ups. People get that as math problem answers all the time and it's literally not a big deal. No one is thinking about it that hard unless they're a real weirdo. It is incredibly disturbing that they believe they couldn't have 69 in play and it speaks volumes about the maturity of those running the league.
Retired players can also suck it up, they don't play anymore and they don't own numbers.
Vocabulary to know:
Nominal: Something that is not ordered (ex: colors)
Ordinal: Something that can be ordered (ex: ages)
NBA: The WNBA but all dudes
WNBA: The NBA but all women
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Petition created on September 18, 2026